Frederick Blake Jr.

Just so I’m very clear, will the Premier ensure that that $27,000 is provided to make sure this work is done?

m Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just in follow-up to my Member’s statement, I have some questions for the Premier. Will the Premier ensure the Department of Education, Culture and Employment meets with the Aklavik District Education Authority and Moose Kerr School to investigate this problem with parking and to find the funds needed?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is clearly the government’s property here. We’re putting a lot of burden on the community that have those funds designated for other projects. They have done all the work to the drainage that is needed. This property is Public Works’ property and I feel that these funds should come from this government, from Public Works, because that is their building.

I’d like to thank the Premier. That sounded like a definite yes that this work will be completed. But we’ve had four months to ensure that this work is completed, and in the Mackenzie Delta the ground is starting to freeze. We are running out of time to build this parking lot. We’ll be lucky if we have another week or two before everything starts freezing up, the material. You know, that makes costs go up slightly. I’d like to see this work completed within the next week or two if the Premier can ensure that that happens.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last year the hamlet council in Aklavik issued a notice to all public places in the community to provide safer parking areas to protect people and property. This is an urgent concern at Moose Kerr School.

As I told my colleagues in the House last week, Moose Kerr School can only offer parking on the road. This makes navigating the school property dangerous for students, teachers and visitors, not to mention more difficult for drivers.

The hamlet council has obtained a quote for the work needed to solve this problem. Costs are estimated at $27,000, but the budget of the...

It sounds like we have a possible supplementary coming about here with the Willow River Bridge. I’m just kidding.

The only other comment I wanted to make was I’m really happy to see we’re starting to do some brushing along the highway that’s with the Building Canada Plan funding, I believe. Some has been done just as you leave Inuvik to the airport, roughly 20 kilometres underway at the moment from Tsiigehtchic, 20 miles north towards Inuvik. This brushing is beginning here, which is great. Anywhere else you travel in the country, whether it’s leaving here from Yellowknife, you have almost...

Just something else, there are possible plans to continue this to the Yukon. I suggest the next time that we do this sort of infrastructure that we insulate where the cable is going to go so that, whether it is woodchips or something along those lines, it will keep the ground from thawing any further. I am sure that is what the cause of this was, plus with all the rain that we have had in our region this summer it created a lot of landslides and it has really increased in my riding. As I have travelled around, I have noticed this. It’s just something the department can look into for future use...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just have two questions and comments. I’m very happy to see we have some units coming into the Mackenzie Delta, also the replacement of four units in Fort McPherson. As I’ve said many times, with waiting lists of up to three to four years, we have some young families that are expecting children, expecting newborns, ready to start a family but yet they’re on the waiting list. You know, they have been for anywhere up to a year, some for three years and there’s a real need for additions to our present stock. I can’t stress that enough. We have to start planning here...

The other thing, as I mentioned earlier, with the assistance that MACA provides to the communities. I’d like to ask the Minister, as we move forward, you know, a lot of planning needs to go in place and architects. Does the department provide that assistance or does the community have to go out and spend some of this money for architecture work and design or is it just design build? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I drove by the location, I noticed there hasn’t really been very much work done there. There are no supplies on the site that are ready to start building.

I’d like to ask the Minister, will the Minister direct his department to work with the elders in the community to select a location for the new elders facility? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.